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Assertive China a 'boon to US image'

A SURVEY on global perceptions of the United States and China this week affirmed what many observers had already guessed - that the increasingly assertive behaviour from Beijing over the past year has been a boon to the US image.

But while this presents a good opportunity for the US to push forward with its Pacific strategy, Washington pundits say the new Pew Research survey also makes clear that the path forward for the US is a tricky one.

The region, they say, is a jumble of mixed strategic interests - outlined, for instance, by the fact that China maintains a favourable rating in the same neighbourhood most worried about military conflict with it. "I think there is little doubt that China's assertiveness, especially its resort to maritime coercion, is magnifying the attraction of America to some regional countries, including Japan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia and perhaps India," said Dr Patrick Cronin, senior director of the Asia-Pacific Security Programme at the Centre for a New American Security.

"But I also think many Asian countries are looking at the US in a more favourable light because of reasons other than China. For instance, South Korea enjoys improving relations with China yet most of its citizens polled understand the strategic importance of the alliance with the US."

A SURVEY on global perceptions of the United States and China this week affirmed what many observers had already guessed - that the increasingly assertive behaviour from Beijing over the past year has been a boon to the US image.

But while this presents a good opportunity for the US to push forward with its Pacific strategy, Washington pundits say the new Pew Research survey also makes clear that the path forward for the US is a tricky one.

The region, they say, is a jumble of mixed strategic interests - outlined, for instance, by the fact that China maintains a favourable rating in the same neighbourhood most worried about military conflict with it. "I think there is little doubt that China's assertiveness, especially its resort to maritime coercion, is magnifying the attraction of America to some regional countries, including Japan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia and perhaps India," said Dr Patrick Cronin, senior director of the Asia-Pacific Security Programme at the Centre for a New American Security.

"But I also think many Asian countries are looking at the US in a more favourable light because of reasons other than China. For instance, South Korea enjoys improving relations with China yet most of its citizens polled understand the strategic importance of the alliance with the US."

But while this presents a good opportunity for the US to push forward with its Pacific strategy, Washington pundits say the new Pew Research survey also makes clear that the path forward for the US is a tricky one.

The region, they say, is a jumble of mixed strategic interests - outlined, for instance, by the fact that China maintains a favourable rating in the same neighbourhood most worried about military conflict with it. "I think there is little doubt that China's assertiveness, especially its resort to maritime coercion, is magnifying the attraction of America to some regional countries, including Japan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia and perhaps India," said Dr Patrick Cronin, senior director of the Asia-Pacific Security Programme at the Centre for a New American Security.

A SURVEY on global perceptions of the United States and China this week affirmed what many observers had already guessed - that the increasingly assertive behaviour from Beijing over the past year has been a boon to the US image.

But while this presents a good opportunity for the US to push forward with its Pacific strategy, Washington pundits say the new Pew Research survey also makes clear that the path forward for the US is a tricky one.

The region, they say, is a jumble of mixed strategic interests - outlined, for instance, by the fact that China maintains a favourable rating in the same neighbourhood most worried about military conflict with it. "I think there is little doubt that China's assertiveness, especially its resort to maritime coercion, is magnifying the attraction of America to some regional countries, including Japan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia and perhaps India," said Dr Patrick Cronin, senior director of the Asia-Pacific Security Programme at the Centre for a New American Security.

A SURVEY on global perceptions of the United States and China this week affirmed what many observers had already guessed - that the increasingly assertive behaviour from Beijing over the past year has been a boon to the US image.

But while this presents a good opportunity for the US to push forward with its Pacific strategy, Washington pundits say the new Pew Research survey also makes clear that the path forward for the US is a tricky one.

A SURVEY on global perceptions of the United States and China this week affirmed what many observers had already guessed - that the increasingly assertive behaviour from Beijing over the past year has been a boon to the US image.

But while this presents a good opportunity for the US to push forward with its Pacific strategy, Washington pundits say the new Pew Research survey also makes clear that the path forward for the US is a tricky one.

The region, they say, is a jumble of mixed strategic interests - outlined, for instance, by the fact that China maintains a favourable rating in the same neighbourhood most worried about military conflict with it. "I think there is little doubt that China's assertiveness, especially its resort to maritime coercion, is magnifying the attraction of America to some regional countries, including Japan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia and perhaps India," said Dr Patrick Cronin, senior director of the Asia-Pacific Security Programme at the Centre for a New American Security.A survey on global perceptions of the United States and China this week affirmed what many observers had already guessed - that the increasingly assertive behaviour from Beijing over the past year has been a boon to the US image.

But while this presents a good opportunity for the US to push forward with its Pacific strategy, Washington pundits say the new Pew Research survey also makes clear that the path forward for the US is a tricky one.

The region, they say, is a jumble of mixed strategic interests outlined, for instance, by the fact that China maintains a favourable rating in the same neighbourhood most worried about military conflict with it.

"I think there is little doubt that China's assertiveness, especially its resort to maritime coercion, is magnifying the attraction of America to some regional countries, including Japan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia and perhaps India," said Dr Patrick Cronin, senior director of the Asia-Pacific Security Programme at the Centre for a New American Security.

"But I also think many Asian countries are looking at the US in a more favourable light because of reasons other than China.

"For instance, South Korea enjoys improving relations with China yet most of its citizens polled understand the strategic importance of the alliance with the US."